Solid free form fabrication techniques such as fused deposition modeling and
three-dimensional printing are used to create a dental restoration. Three-dimensional
printing comprises inkjet printing a binder into selected areas of sequentially
deposited layers of powder. Each layer is created by spreading a thin layer of
powder over the surface of a powder bed. Instructions for each layer may be derived
directly from a CAD representation of the restoration. The area to be printed is
obtained by computing the area of intersection between the desired plane and the
CAD representation of the object. All the layers required for an aesthetically
sound restoration can be deposited concurrently slice after slice and sintered/cured
simultaneously. The amount of green body oversize is equivalent to the amount of
shrinkage which occurs during sintering or curing. While the layers become hardened
or at least partially hardened as each of the layers is laid down, once the desired
final shaped configuration is achieved and the layering process is complete, in
some applications it may be desirable that the form and its contents be heated
or cured at a suitably selected temperature to further promote binding of the powder particles.